Naruto: The Mysterious Ramen
by Foxgirl1994
Summary: What happens when the Hidden Leaf Village eats a new type of ramen?


Naruto: The Mysterious Ramen

"Man, what a blast that mission was, eh, Lee?" Naruto told one of his good friends as they were walking back into the Leaf Village after a mission.

"You bet, Naruto!" Rock Lee replied. "I wonder what Lady Tsunade has in store for us?"

"I hope it's cooler than the mission that we just finished," said Naruto glumly.

"Well, we are still genin. Besides, I think that rabbit liked you."

"Are you kidding? That fleabag almost ate my face off!" Lee laughed.

"Mornin' Lee! Mornin' Naruto!" greeted Might Guy coming out of a bookstore. Naruto noticed it was a book about youth.

"Guy-sensei!" said Rock Lee bowing. "Are you training, me Neji, and Tenten today?"

"Nope," replied Might Guy. "The Hokage gave us all jonin the day off."

"Well that sucks!" yelled Naruto. "What about us genin, the head ninja, and all the chunin like Master Iruka and Shikamaru?"

"Taking the day off too. Don't you know that today marks the anniversary of the founding of the Hidden Leaf Village?"

"I forgot!" said Lee. Guy laughed.

"Of course you did, Lee!" he said. "That's what happens when you're gone a few days on a mission!"

We were only gone one night, thought Naruto.

"Well, I better go," said Guy. "Kakashi and I have a match today. Whoever runs around the entire village in the fastest amount of time gets free ramen and does the winner's laundry for a week."

"Go Guy-sensei!" yelled Lee. Guy winked and smiled at his student and took off.

"Hey Lee," said Naruto. "Do you want to go with me to Ichiraku's? Now that Master Guy mentioned ramen, I've gotten a little bit hungry."

"Yeah, me too," replied Lee. "I guess we should stop somewhere to get something to eat."

As the two walked to Ichiraku's, thoughts were spinning through Lee's head.

Maybe I'll be able to see Sakura today, he thought. If I give her some of my ramen, she'll fall for me for sure!

"Bushy-brow, you're not thinking about impressing Sakura, are you?"asked Naruto.

"Of course not!" Lee instantly replied. "Unlike you, you've been obsessed with bring Sasuke home ever since he left the village to join Orochimaru."

Sasuke! Naruto thought. Ever since Sasuke joined Orochimaru, basically everyone had become depressed about it. Sakura, Ino, and everyone else who knew Sasuke were hit the hardest. Naruto's thoughts were ended when he ran into Lee.

"Ow! Hey! What in the world is going on?" he asked.

"There's a line at Ichiraku's," replied Lee. "A long one." Naruto looked to the side and saw a line that stretched a few hundred feet to Ichraku's.

"I wonder what's up?" said Naruto.

"Naruto! Lee!" said a voice. The two looked and saw Sakura coming to them with her arch rival, Ino.

"Hey, Sakura! Hi, Ino!" greeted Naruto.

"Did you guys just get back from your mission?" asked Ino.

"Yep," replied Lee. "What's going on at Ichiraku's?"

"You guys didn't know?" asked Sakura. "Well, to celebrate the anniversary of founding of the Leaf Village, Teuchi had decided to make a new type of ramen."

"I hope it clears away my love troubles," said Ino, sighing.

"What type of troubles, Ino-pig? The only troubles you had were failing to impress Sasuke!"

"You're one to talk, Billboard-brow! Your depressing love trouble is that even though you told Sasuke you loved him, he still knocks you out and joins that creepy snake guy!"

"Let me at her!" screamed the inner-Sakura.

"Let's make a bet that can last until the rest of our lives, shall we?" said Sakura with a smug look.

"I'd like to take that bet," replied Ino.

"I bet you all the money I have that I will be the one that Sasuke will kiss." Ino laughed.

"Really?" she said. "It's a deal. I bet that it won't be you that Sasuke will kiss."

"Fine!" said Sakura.

As the day carried on, Naruto and Rock Lee were getting closer to Ichiraku's as the back of the line grew longer. Soon, they finally reached the hut.

"Teuchi!" yelled Naruto, waving.

"Naruto!" greeted Teuchi coming to Lee, Naruto, Ino, and Sakura. "How can I help you today?"

"We'll try that new ramen," said Naruto. Teuchi smiled.

"It's a good thing you guys came when you did," he said. "I'm almost out of this stuff."

"Has everyone in the village eaten it?" asked Ino.

"Yep. Not only them, the sand village decided to eat it as well."

"You the man, Teuchi!" said Naruto.

"Here you go! Enjoy!" said Ayame handing each of them a to-go box.

"Great!" said Naruto. "So how much does this all cost?"

"Not one cent," replied Teuchi.

"Wow! Thanks, Teuchi!" The other three followed Naruto out of the restaurant.

"I can't wait to go home and eat this!" said Sakura. "Mmmmm! It smells so good!"

"Are you kidding?" said Ino eating. "I'm eating this now!" Naruto turned towards Lee with a smug smile.

"Whoever eats all their ramen first gets all the ramen I have at home," he said.

"You're on!" said Lee. The two boys stopped walking and immediately chowed down on their food with Sakura and Ino watching with disgusted looks and pieces of ramen were flying everywhere. After a few seconds the two finished.

"I win!" they both yelled.

"It's a tie," said Sakura. "See you guys tomorrow." She then walked home.

The next morning, Naruto woke up and jumped out of his bed saying,

"Woo-hoo! Another lesson with Guy-sensei today!" Naruto heard what he just said and became confused.

"That's funny. For a second there, I thought I was acting like Lee," he said. "Oh well. There's only one thing to make sure I'm just me. Sexy jutsu!" Instead of Naruto's stupid jutsu, he went flying across the bedroom. After noticing leaves around him, Naruto realized that he performed Lee's Leaf Hurricane.

"I better head over to Lee's," he said.

After pulling on a fresh pair of clothes, Naruto headed over to Lee's house. On the way, he noticed some weird things.

"Human Boulder!" yelled Ino. She then blew up and was rolling up and down the street.

That's Choji's power, thought Naruto. Ino stopped and came over to him, eating a bag of potato chips.

"Oh hey, Naruto," she said.

"Uh, hi, Ino," Naruto replied. "Since when have you been eating potato chips? Aren't you dieting because of Sasuke?" Ino shrugged.

"I just started eating these this morning," she replied. "This is my sixth bag."

"Ino, you're gonna get fat."

"I'M NOT FAT! I'M PLEASINGLY PLUMP!"

I better get outta here! thought Naruto. He ran a few blocks, running into Sakura.

"S-sorry, Sakura!" he said.

"Watch where you're going, you loser," said Sakura.

"Come again?"

"I said to watch where you're going, you loser. Are you stupid, or have you just gone deaf?" The thought then hit Naruto.

"Sasuke!" said Naruto. He stared examining Sakura's body. "So how did you get inside Sakura's body?" Sakura hit him.

"Don't touch me," she said.

Well that part's Sakura, Naruto thought.

"Naruto!" yelled Lee coming over to the two.

"Lee! I was about to come see you!" said Naruto.

"Well, explain this for me," said Lee. "Sakura, you might want to shield your beautiful eyes before I begin."

"Sure. If it's one of Naruto's stupid jutsus, I'd be glad to hit him again," replied Sakura.

Since when did she act like Sasuke? Thought Lee as Sakura shielded her eyes.

"Okay. Show me," said Naruto. Suddenly, Lee turned into a beautiful girl and Naruto stood there with his mouth hanging open. He snapped out of it when Sakura hit him on the head.

"How'd you get my Sexy Jutsu?" he asked.

"Well, how come I have your powers and a strong craving for ramen?" asked Lee.

"And how come I have to listen to you idiots whine all day?" asked Sakura. "I could go and kill Itachi now!" Lee's eyes grew big.

"Uh, Sakura's not really Sakura, is she?" he asked.

"Ino's not really herself either," replied Naruto. "She can use Choji's power and she started eating potato chips."

"Something's not right," said Lee. "We have to go see Lady Tsunade." The three heard wild laughter as Jiraiya appeared.

"Pervy sage?" asked Naruto. "Are you okay?"

"Am I okay?" replied Jiraiya. "With this power, I will destroy the Hidden Leaf Village!" Naruto and Lee looked at each other wide-eyed and headed towards the building screaming at the top of their lungs,

"LADY TSUNADE!"

When they arrived at the office, Naruto and Lee knew at once that everyone was in trouble.

"Aiee!" screamed Lady Tsunade.

"Oh no! You've turned into Lady Shizune!" wailed Naruto as tears came to his eyes.

"Exactly," said Lady Shizune coming to them. "This morning I wake up to find myself being trapped in Shizune's body and mine being taken by Shizune."

"Do you know what happened, Grandma?" asked Lee.

"I received a report that the ramen that everyone had yesterday is the cause of this problem."

"How'd you know?" asked Naruto.

"Teuchi called and said that he and Ayame switched places. I'm sure it was Ayame's body that called, but that's not the point. Is everyone really infected?"

"Well, if you count Jiraiya acting like Orochimaru, I guess you can call that really infected," said Naruto.

"Aiee! We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!" wailed Tsunade.

"Stop your blubbering, Shizune!" She looked to the boys. "Who do you know that have switched bodies?"

"We switched," said Lee.

"Sakura and Sasuke," said Naruto. "And Choji and Ino."

"I see," replied Shizune. "I want you two to patrol the village to confirm any infections and report it to Miss Hokage here." She gestured to Tsunade.

"Help!" she whimpered.

"Don't worry, we're on it!" said Lee. "Believe it!" The two boys then hurried out of the office. Shizune turned to Tsunade.

"Well, I'll be at the casino if you need me," she said.

"B-but, you can't just leave me here!" said Tsunade. "I'm inexperienced!"

"Oh well. Better to gamble than do nothing all day." Shizune then walked out of the office with Ton-ton.

"Bark bark!" said Ton-ton.

Inside the Hidden Leaf Village, Naruto and Lee were scoping out people who may have been infected.

"Take that!" yelled Kakashi.

"Too slow!" yelled Guy. A blue electric ball formed in his hand and charged towards Kakashi. "Lightning Blade!"

"Something tells me that Kakashi and Guy-sensei switched," said Naruto.

"Well duh!" replied Lee. "And Guy is my sensei!" Suddenly, Kakashi punched Guy to the ground and approached him, crying.

"You're such a great person!" he said and crushed Guy in a back-breaking hug.

"Good show, huh?" asked Choji standing by the two boys eating carrot sticks.

"Choji, what the heck are you doing eating carrot sticks for?" asked Naruto. "Don't you live off of fatty foods?" Choji laughed.

"Of course not, Naruto!" he replied. "I'm eating healthy so I can soon impress my dear Sasuke!"

"Your wha?" asked Naruto. Choji took out a picture of Sasuke and started gazing at it. He sighed.

"Isn't he dreamy?" he asked. Really weirded out, Naruto and Lee took off running at high spped.

After running for a few blocks, the two boys had to stop to catch their breaths.

"Okay, that was so weird and gross at the same time!" said Lee.

"Well, no doubt about it, Kakashi, Guy, Ino, and Choji have definitely changed personalities," replied Naruto.

"N-Naruto," said a voice. Coming towards them, looking really fidgety was Neji Hyuga.

"Neji, thank goodness you haven't changed yet!" said Lee.

"I wanted to speak to Naruto," said Neji.

"Well, what is it?" asked Naruto. Neji started fidgeting just like Hinata did and the boys knew that his and Hinata's bodies were also switched.

"So, screwing up again?" said Hinata coming towards the three boys. "Like I always say, 'Once a failure, always a failure.' You're hopeless!"

"Hinata, what's gotten into you?" demanded Naruto.

"Her personality switched with Neji's," replied Lee.

"I-I want to fight you," said Neji, turning to Hinata.

"Fine," replied Hinata. "I hope you know you'll lose."

"We better get out of here before we get involved," Naruto whispered to Lee. He nodded and the two boys disappeared.

Walking in a different direction, Naruto and Lee noticed that Shino and Kiba had switched places as well.

"Get him, Akamaru," said Shino. Akamaru whined. Kiba was his owner, but his personality was replaced into Shino's body.

"Parasitic Insects Jutsu!" yelled Kiba. He waited a moment, but nothing happened. "What the heck is going on?"

"Forget it," said Shino. "This won't work since our bodies switched."

"Naruto, stop laughing and let's keep moving," said Lee to Naruto as he was rolling around on the ground laughing his head off.

"Take this!" yelled a voice. Everyone looked and saw Kurenai attack Asuma with blue blades.

"Hey, aren't those Asuma's blades?" asked Naruto.

"Well, duh," replied Shino.

"See if you can escape my Genjutsu!" said Asuma. "Tree-Binding Death!"

"I guess that's everyone that switched places then," said Lee. "Let's go back and tell Lady Tsunade." Before the two boys walked one step, Iruka jumped out in front of them, making them scream.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing?" yelled Naruto.

"Shouldn't you two be preparing for a battle?" asked Iruka in a wild voice. "Run two laps around the village now! You never know when we'll be attacked!"

"Now, now, calm down," said Anko coming towards them. Naruto gaped at them both.

"Let me guess," he said. "Anko and Iruka switched places, didn't they?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Iruka and Anko replied in unison.

"Okay. Now I think that's everyone," said Lee.

"To the Hokage!" yelled Naruto.

Back in the Hokage's office, Naruto and Lee told Lady Shizune that everyone in the entire village had switched.

"I see," said Shizune. "I've been looking around in Lady Tsunade's books to try and find a cure and I might have found one."

"Speaking of her, where is Grammy?" asked Lee.

"Immediately after you left, Tsunade decided to go out and gamble again," replied Shizune. "I have to admit, to her, when my body is taken over by her, it's the best way to not be herself and gamble while being in another person's body."

"Will there be any luck in trying to find a cure?" asked Naruto. Shizune shrugged.

"I'm not sure," she replied. "Also, I looked into the crystal ball that was the Third's to check up on Orochimaru and this was what I found." She gestured the two boys to the desk where the crystal ball was sitting and they took a look at it.

Inside Orochimaru's cave, Orochimaru was laughing happily as Sasuke stared at him, freaking out.

"Uh, Master Orochimaru, what are we doing for a lesson today?" asked Sasuke.

"Our lesson plan for today is research," replied Orochimaru still laughing.

"What research?"

"Women! I decided to write a book instead of causing terror in the Leaf Village!" Sasuke stared at him for a moment

"Okay. Who are you and what have you done with Orochimaru?" he asked.

Back at the Hokage's office, Naruto and Lee arrived just as Tsunade was talking to Shikamaru, Temari, and Baki.

"Oh, back already?" Tsunade asked.

"Hey, Shikamaru!" greeted Lee.

"So let me guess," said Shikamaru. "Naruto and Lee switched places, didn't they?" Tsunade nodded.

"Is everyone taking on different personalities like I figured?" she asked. Naruto nodded.

"Grammy Shizune, you might want to call the Anbu," said Lee. "Orochimaru's and Jiraiya's personalities have been switched!"

"The Toad Sage?" asked Baki.

"Aiee!" screamed Tsunade and hid under her desk cowering.

"Oh God. So meaning everyone being switched, it included Lady Tsunade and Lady Shizune," said Shikamaru. "This is such a drag."

"No, really?" said Temari sarcastically.

"And what are you doing here?" demanded Lee.

"That so-called ramen that was made here was ordered by many residents of the Sand Village," said Baki.

"The three of us had to go on a mission on the borderline. When we came back the next day, we found that everyone was infected, especially Gaara and Kankuro," said Temari. "That's why we came here to see your Hokage, but it seems she's a little bit occupied at the moment." Tsunade slowly sat back down in her chair.

"I'm sorry to hear about your situation in the Sand Village," she said. "Fortunately, I managed to find a cure, though the main ingredient hasn't been seen for over one hundred years."

"What is it?" asked Naruto. Tsunade held up a picture of a pig, but with two legs.

"The body of this creature helps bring everyone's lives back to normal," said Tsunade. "They hide in the forests of Konoha."

"We're on it," aid Temari.

"This will be a pain, I know it is," said Shikamaru. "But don't worry. The mission won't fail."

"We won't let you down," said Naruto.

"Good," replied Tsunade. "In the meantime, I'll send all the upper-ranked ninja to keep an eye on Jiraiya."

"I'll stay and help," said Baki.

"Are you sure?"

"The elders sent me here and told me not to return until an antidote is made."

"That sucks," said Shikamaru.

"All right, everyone, move out!" said Temari when the three boys met with her at the front gate.

"Who died and made you leader?" asked Lee.

"Excuse me?"

"Enough," said Shikamaru. "I've already had enough of this crap. I'm the leader because I'm the chunin of the group and you guys are genin. So shut up and get a move on already!"

"Whatever," said Temari rolling her eyes and walking down the path.

Women are just total pains! thought Shikamaru.

By sunset, the group reached the middle of the forest and everyone grew tired but Shikamaru.

"Okay, this pig-looking thing is somewhere around here," he said. "Keep an eye out."

"Roger!" said Naruto.

If only we had Neji's Byakugan, thought Lee.

After splitting up, a few minutes later, Naruto found the creature.

"HEY! I FOUND ONE!" he yelled. Startled, the pig ran away. "Hey wait! Come back here!" Naruto ran after it, but it was zigging and zagging all over the place. Eventually, Naruto tripped over a rock and fell, letting the pig get away. As Naruto picked himself up, Shikamaru, Temari, and Lee came.

"So where's the pig?" asked Shikamaru. Naruto gave a nervous laugh.

"Heh. See, the uh, funny thing is that uh-"  
You didn't eat the thing, did you?"

"No, it's just that I let him get away because I kinda tripped over a rock."

"You let it get away because you tripped over a rock?" asked Temari. "How stupid are you?" Shikamaru sighed.

"This will be a big pain in my butt, but I guess we have to look as a group since Naruto screwed everything up already." Naruto growled.

Oh yeah? Well, you and Temari are being the pains in my butt right now! he thought. You two oughta be the perfect couple.

Walking throughout the forest, the four were scoping out the creature to cure the people of the Leaf and Sand Villages.

"You know, since the creature hasn't been named yet, how about we name it?" asked Lee.

"How sweet," said Temari sarcastically.

"I know! How about Piglington?" said Naruto.

"Actually, I was thinking about the name Chuck," replied Lee.

"Chuck? What're you nuts?"

"Chuck it is," said Shikamaru. "Now will you to shut up? I found one." Out in the open stood a Chuck.

"I'll take it from here," whispered Temari getting out her fan. "Wind Scythe-" Shikamaru grabbed her arm.

"Don't be stupid," he said. "I'm not going to be the one carrying a bloody pig back to the village. I'll use my Shadow-Possession Jutsu, then Lee or Naruto or whoever can knock it out with the Leaf Hurricane. After that, you can carry Chuck home."

"Hmph!" said Temari.

"All right, here I go," said Shikamaru. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!" Chuck then stood still, frightened. "Now!"

"Leaf Hurricane!" yelled Naruto. He aimed for the creature, but ran into a tree.

"Crap," said Shikamaru. He then saw Temari lift up her fan towards Chuck. "No, Temari! Don't!" There was a loud crack and both Chuck and Shikamaru were knocked out.

"Well, that was easy," she said. She looked at Lee. "Don't you have anything useful?"

"I can't do Naruto's Shadow-Clone Jutsu, but I can do this!" Lee then performed the Sexy Jutsu and Temari wanted to throw up.

"I'm going to put you in a mental institution!" she yelled. "Wind Scythe-" Temari was stopped by Shikamaru's Shadow-Possession technique.

"Enough," he said. "Now stop your childish games with the fan and pick up Chuck."

"Fine!" Temari replied.

By the next morning, the antidote was made and Lee cheered, making Lady Tsunade jump.

"Hooray! We'll be back to our normal selves again!" he yelled.

"Yes, lucky for you," replied Tsunade. "My own body hasn't been back yet!"

"Now she is," said Shikamaru opening the office door. There stood Shizune, looking tired.

"Yes, I'm back. Happy?" she said.

"Now I am," said Tsunade holding two cups and handing one to Shizune. "Drink up. It's some new sake' I wanted us to try together."

"Really?" replied Shizune "Don't mind if I do." Together, the two of them downed the drink and within a few seconds, they were transformed back to their normal selves.

"You changed me back?" asked Tsunade as she checked over her body. "Why?"

"As Hokage, it is your duty to carry out what's best for the village," replied Shizune as she gave the antidote to Pakkun and Ton-ton. Tsunade sighed.

"Well, all's well that ends well," she said.

"Uh, can we go now?" Temari asked, gesturing to herself and Baki. "Our village has been waiting for the antidote for some time now."

"Yes, of course," replied Tsunade. "We have plenty of antidote to cure both villages. One sip will do the trick and both people have to drink it at the same time."

"How did you know that?" asked Shizune.

"I'm a medical ninja, remember?" Rolling her eyes, Shizune handed Temari and Bako a few bottles of antidote. Baki bowed.

"Thank you so much, Ladies Tsunade and Shizune," he said and the two left.

"Shikamaru, you are free to leave," said Tsunade. "But before you frolic and do whatever you may please, fetch Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka," said Tsunade. "Just to warn you, they will not be themselves."

"I'm aware," Shikamaru replied, leaving. Shizune handed Naruto and Lee some small cups of antidote.

"Drink up," she said. The two boys drank the antidote and they soon became back to normal.

"Yay! We're back to our normal selves!" Naruto cheered. "I can't wait to do this!"

"Do the Sexy Jutsu and you die where you stand," said Tsunade. Naruto stopped what he was doing and laughed, his face turning red.

"Right, sorry Grandma!" he said.

A few minutes passed and Shikamaru came back with Sakura and Ino, who was going through a bag of chips.

"I brought Sakura and Ino like you asked," he said.

"Thank you, Shikamaru. You may leave," said Tsunade. Shikamaru nodded and left.

"So what's up, Lady Tsuande?" asked Ino through mouthfuls of potato chips. Tsunade sighed.

"It seems as though you four are the only ones capable enough to cure everyone," she replied. "First of all, I want Ino and Choji's bodies switched back together. Then split up and repair everything that Teuchi has done. After that, capture Jiraiya and go to Orochimaru's cave where those two can switch, along with Sasuke and Sakura."

"Can we bring Sasuke back?" asked Naruto.

"No. We've tried many times and failed them all. Besides, Orochimaru is a wanted ninja and he will give Sasuke power. Just do the antidote quickly and leave." Shizune handed Naruto a map.

"This is the map to where Orochimaru's hideout is," she said. Sakura snatched the map out of Naruto's hands.

"I'll take that," she said.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

"Because I'm more mature than you three," Sakura replied.

"Yeah, yeah. It's only Sasuke being trapped in Sakura's body. I'm soooo scared, Sasuke!" Sakura punched him.

You should be," she said as Naruto went flying. "And you might as well call me Sakura from now on to avoid confusion."

"What're we waiting for? Let's go!" said Lee.

Throughout the whole afternoon, Naruto, Ino, Sakura, and Lee traveled to every corner of the Leaf Village, handing out antidotes to the infected citizens. The last people to switch were Ino and Choji. Sakura spotted Choji walking down the street admiring himself in a mirror.

"Found him," she said. The four then ran up to Choji, startling him.

"Oh hey guys," he greeted. "What's up? I was checking myself in the mirror to keep up with my weight to impress Sasuke!" Naruto saw Sakura make a face of disgust.

"Well, Ino, Choji wanted to give you a toast for your weight loss!" said Naruto.

"Really?" asked Choji. Lee handed Ino and Choji a glass of antidote.

"Drink up," he said. The two drank simultaneously and changed back to their normal selves.

"Yay! I'm thin again!" cheered Ino, twirling around.

"Must need FOOD!" yelled Choji, taking out a potato chip bag.

"Great. Now all we have to do is capture Jiraiya and take him over to Orochimaru's cave so that they can switch, along with me and Sakura," said Sakura. Ino stopped twirling and walked over to Sakura with a confused expression on her face.

"If you're not Sakura, who are you?" she asked.

"Are you kidding me, Ino? It's me, Sasuke Uchiha!" Ino's mouth gaped open in delight.

"That's you, Sasuke?" she said. "All right, I'm helping!"

"What?" said Naruto.

"Awwww! I wanna come!" whined Choji.

"Oh boy," murmured Sakura.

"It's okay, guys," said Lee to Sakura and Naruto. "I'll help you capture Jiraiya and then I'll leave the rest to the four of you."

"Are you sure, Lee?" asked Ino, blushing.

"Of course!"

"If you're gonna go off after Jiraiya without any Chunin help, you'll die after the first five minutes," said Shikamaru coming to them.

"Shikamaru!" said Ino.

"Excuse me, but I can last much longer!" said Sakura. "Do you know who I am, Shikamaru?"

"Of course I do, Sasuke," Shikamaru replied. "And if you stayed in the Leaf Village instead of going to that missing-nin, you would've become a Chinin just like me. Now that you're not, I'm the only one, so shut up and let me tell you who's doing what!" Sakura scowled.

Wow, I've never seen Shikamaru like this before, thought Choji. He must be really angry.

"Lee, you can go home," said Shikamaru, looking to him. "You've done enough the past few days."

"Roger!" said Lee and dashed off. Shikamaru turned to the others.

"Ino and Choji can come, but I have to accompany you all, though it's a total drag babysitting four genin and all," he said.

"Shikamaru!" yelled Ino.

"All right! Let's get this started!" said Naruto.

"We'll spread out through the village and keep a close eye out for Jiraiya," said Shikamaru. He handed the others a walkie-talkie. "If you happen to find him, just dial in and we'll be there as soon as possible. Everyone got it?" The others nodded. "All right, let's do this!"

In about half an hour, Naruto grew tired after not finding Jiraiya fairly quick. He then saw Choji headed towards a food vendor. Naruto then grabbed his walkie-talkie.

"Choji, what the heck are you doing?" he yelled. "This is no time for snacking!" When he saw that Choji wouldn't stop walking, Naruto cursed and headed over to him.

"Mmmmmm. So hungry!" moaned Choji.

"Hey! Choji!" yelled Naruto, running towards him.

"Oh, hey, Naruto," greeted Choji as he turned around.

"Do you not understand the mission? Our mission is to get Pervy Sage and Switch with Orochimaru quickly! The villages would be in trouble if we don't hurry!"

"I know that, but I need fuel," said Choji. "I won't take that long."

"But-" Naruto started. As soon as he turned back around, Choji ran into a large man. The two boys looked up and saw Jiraiya looking down on them with a sickening smile on his face.

Oh crap, thought Naruto.

"Uh um, hey, Mr. Jiraiya, sir," Choji stammered. "If you excuse us, can we-"

"Absolutely not!" yelled Jiraiya throwing Choji into a store. All around, people screamed and moved out of the way.

"Choji!" yelled Naruto. Jiraiya gave a menacing laugh and was about to attack Naruto when flying stars and kunai knives aimed for Jiraiya, but he dodged.

"What the?" he said, looking in the direction where the shuriken came from. Naruto looked too and saw Ino and Sakura heading forward, ready to attack.

"Take this!" they yelled, aiming a kick at him. Jiraiya smiled and caught them both by the leg, upside down.

"Hey! Put us down!" yelled Ino. "I'm a girl, you know!"

"And I'm not really a girl, but put us down anyway!" yelled Sakura. Jiraiya laughed.

"With pleasure," he said and instantly dropped the two girls to the dirt ground. Their bodies ached and they couldn't get up. Naruto was the only one left.

"I'm not afraid of you!" he yelled. "I've fought stronger people than you!"

"Really?" said Jiraiya as he slowly stepped towards Naruto. "Sadly, I must prove to you that you're wrong." Suddenly, he stopped walking and felt paralyzed.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"Hey! You, the big guy finishing off my comrades one by one!" yelled Shikamaru from a tall building. Everyone looked up to see him.

"Shikamaru," Ino whispered.

"Either you cooperate now so that we can take you back to your lair or we'll take you by force!" said Shikamaru.

"Never!" yelled Jiraiya.

"Then how about this?" said Naruto as he made a swirling blue ball. Jiraiya's eyes grew big and Shikamaru smiled as Naruto charged towards the enemy as he screamed "Rasengan!"

It all happened with a flash of blue light. Naruto struck Jiraiya with the Rasengan and he hurtled into a large building. The whole street became quiet.

"Shikamaru!" yelled Ino. Through the dust, Shikamaru stepped out without a scratch on him.

"I told you to cooperate," he said. He turned to Naruto. "Nice one, Naruto." Naruto beamed.

"Okay, let's get this mission finished," said Sakura.

"Awwwww! I'm starving!" whined Choji.

"Here, take this," said Shikamaru handing Choji a granola bar. Choji quickly ate it and carried Jiraiya on his back.


End file.
